Angela Carella: Vanished check - another taxing tale

Published 10:15 pm, Tuesday, October 29, 2013

It's happened again.

Checks sent to the tax assessor's office appear to have vanished, and a taxpayer who thought her bills were paid has been fined.

As happened in dozens of similar cases two years ago, Cathy Bierschbach flagged the tax collector's office when she noticed that, two weeks after she wrote checks for taxes on her home and cars, they still had not cleared.

And, as happened in dozens of similar cases in 2011, the tax collector's office told her it was busy season and she should give it more time.

And, again, as happened in dozens of similar cases, the next thing Bierschbach heard from the tax office was that her taxes were not paid and she owed not only those bills but late fees, too.

The state requires that municipalities charge 1.5 percent interest for each month property taxes are late. Taxes are due Jan. 1 and July 1, and property owners have 30 days to pay.

"They were not willing to hear that I had mailed the checks, that I had come by their office before to make sure they got them," Bierschbach said.

"They just said they are not authorized to waive penalties. That is state law and there's nothing they can do. I had to pay the penalties."

They came to nearly $370.

But it's not the money; it's the principle, said Bierschbach, echoing the sentiments of many of the taxpayers who had the same problem two years ago. The city eventually reimbursed or waived late fees charged to all 81 taxpayers who came forward.

Bierschbach said she mailed her tax bills, which must be paid by Aug. 1, in mid-July.

"In hindsight, my decision to put all three checks in one envelope was probably stupid," she said. "But in late July, I saw they hadn't cleared so I went to the tax office to ask. The first thing they said to me was, `Did you use the envelope we sent you?' I said yes. They said that slows it down because the check goes to the lock box" at People's United Bank, which the city uses to process tax payments.

"Then they said they are very busy that time of year, implying that it was unreasonable to expect your check to clear within two weeks," said Bierschbach, an actuary by profession. "I offered to write new checks but they said no, it would be difficult to process if the first checks showed up and then they had to refund me."

So she left. At the end of September, when her checks still had not cleared, Bierschbach wrote the tax office a letter. In response, she got a notice telling her she was delinquent and fined.

"I went back to the tax office and they insisted I had not paid," Bierschbach said. "I said it seemed weird they didn't have the checks because I mailed them and the post office hadn't sent them back and they weren't cashed. And the tax department had a problem a couple of years ago. They said that was the post office's fault, not their fault. I said it seems suspicious that the post office manages to send everything except checks to the Stamford tax department.

"I was so annoyed because I went there in July to see why my checks didn't clear and I offered to write new checks and they didn't want me to," Bierschbach said. "Then I have a problem, and no one tries to help. They didn't want to hear it. I asked to talk to a supervisor, and they said he's not going to do anything different.

Tax Collector William Forker has said that no one in his office can waive tax penalties, but it happened at least twice.

Jean Hosinski told The Advocate in 2011 that she mailed one check for her real estate tax and one for her car tax at the same time. The car-tax check was cashed and the house-tax check was not. When she was assessed a late fee, Hosinski went to the tax office to question it and the fee was waived.

Pat Rinaldi told The Advocate that she owned two properties and sent tax payments for them in the same envelope. One was cashed and one was not. That indicated "my check was lost in the tax office, not the post office," Rinaldi said at the time. When she went to the tax office to question her late fee, it was waived.

After the complaints two years ago, former Director of Administration Fred Flynn conducted a six-week query that included the tax office, Postal Service, City Hall mailroom, People's United Bank and the city's courier.

"Our investigation was inconclusive," Flynn said when it was over. He refunded a total of nearly $12,000 in late fees and waived another $2,450.

One check turned up in City Hall five months after it was written, slit nearly in half horizontally. It arrived in an envelope indicating it was damaged in the post office, but a Postal Service spokeswoman said a search turned up no more such checks.

Flynn said at the time that customer service in the tax office needed improvement.

Forker did not return a request for comment for this story. His supervisor, Director of Administration Michael Handler, said he will look into Bierschbach's complaint.

Bierschbach, like the taxpayers of two years ago, is frustrated.

"I would have paid when I went to the tax office in late July, but I was advised not to because, from what I could gather, giving me a refund would have been a lot of work for the tax department," she said. "They also told me I could have paid online. Online there is a fee of $2 or $3 if you pay by check and more if you use a credit card. The tax department has a problem getting checks, so I should go online and pay the fees?"